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Role of Whey Components in the Kinetics and Thermodynamics of β-Lactoglobulin Unfolding and Aggregation

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Abstract

The optimisation of dairy unit operations involving heat transfer requires the control of fouling and aggregation phenomena following the denaturation of thermosensitive proteins, in particular β-lactoglobulin (β-lg). This study intends to give a better view of the influence of whey components (whey proteins, lactose, and minerals such as calcium) on β-lg denaturation through a combined kinetic and thermodynamic approach. β-lg denaturation in model solutions of increasing complexity (pure β-lg solution, whey protein solution, and two model wheys differing in mineral content) was characterised at temperatures ranging from 64.5 to 98 °C by following the evolution of soluble β-lg concentration with HPLC. It was demonstrated that whatever the model solution composition, a two-step mechanism (unfolding followed by aggregation) of 1.5-order kinetics could be adopted to describe β-lg denaturation reaction, as the temperature dependence of the denaturation reaction rate was properly fitted by Arrhenius equation. The dependency of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters on solution composition indicated that the presence of whey proteins enhanced β-lg aggregation, whereas lactose showed a small protective effect against β-lg unfolding. Additionally, minerals, especially calcium, tended to stabilise β-lg native state while increasing β-lg aggregation rates. However, at high mineral content, calcium influence could be hindered or even reversed, presumably owing to a lower bioavailability due to complexation with anions such as inorganic phosphates.

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Acknowledgments

This work, constituting a part of the PERE (Procédé Electromagnétique de Réduction d’Encrassement, i.e. Eletromagnetic device for the reduction of milk fouling) project, has been funded by INRA Transfert within the framework of the 2010 patent valorisation campaign.

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  1. Université de Lorraine - LIBio, Laboratoire d’Ingénierie des Biomolécules, 2, avenue de la Forêt de Haye, TSA 40602, 54518, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Jeremy Petit

  2. INRA, UR638 Processus aux Interfaces et Hygiène des Matériaux, 369, rue Jules Guesde BP20039, 59651, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France

    Jeremy Petit, Anne Moreau, Gilles Ronse, Pascal Debreyne, Laurent Bouvier, Pascal Blanpain-Avet & Guillaume Delaplace

  3. Agrocampus Ouest, INRA, UMR1253, Science et Technologie du Lait et de l’Œuf, 35000, Rennes, France

    Romain Jeantet

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Petit, J., Moreau, A., Ronse, G. et al. Role of Whey Components in the Kinetics and Thermodynamics of β-Lactoglobulin Unfolding and Aggregation. Food Bioprocess Technol 9, 1367–1379 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-016-1726-x

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